New England Patriots: Players under pressure vs. Eagles

The New England Patriots have some players under pressure to perform in their week two preseason matchup against the Eagles.

The rematch between the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles will be quite a bit less intense than their matchup in Super Bowl LII, but there is still plenty at stake.

Each team has players that need to step up and play well in this game.

For the Patriots, specifically, there are a few players that will be under the microscope, all for different reasons.

Let’s take a look at some of them.

Ja’Whaun Bentley, Linebacker

Ja’Whaun Bentley is one of the players the Patriots are probably most excited about after their first preseason game against the Washington Redskins.

Bentley led the team with six total tackles and has been showing out in practices since OTAs.

The 6-foot-2, 246-pound rookie out of Purdue was a high fifth-round draft pick for the Patriots, so it’s not like expectations were for him to simply fill out the back end of the roster, though that would have been perfectly acceptable as well.

The Patriots thought pretty highly of Bentley compared to the rest of the scouting world and he has rewarded them so far by earning some first-team reps with Dont’a Hightower and Kyle Van Noy.

Bentley is big, strong, and tested very quick for his size.

Bentley was also a three-time captain at Purdue, something that’s pretty unheard of considering sophomores don’t usually get voted in as team captains.

Based on reports from Patriots camp, Bentley has been effective not only as a run stuffing inside linebacker (which some considered his ceiling), he’s been doing very well blitzing and in coverage, even blanketing Rob Gronkowski in a one-on-one rep in practice.

Keep an eye on this guy, as the pressure is now on to match or exceed how well he performed in the Patriots’ first preseason game.